Saving Steven: Or The Time Steven Flipped Homeworld On It's Head
by SLunne
Summary: Sacrifice, it seemed, was a persisting quality that Rose had passed on to Steven. In an effort to protect his friends, Steven saves the Crystal Gems and Lapis from Jasper, leaving him trapped on a ship bound for Homeworld. But Steven's not helpless. Nothing could prepare Homeworld for Earth's youngest guardian.


Thousands of different futures flashed across Garnet's vision, each more terrible than the last. With the greatest effort it had ever cost her, Garnet pushed the possibilities away. She knew that she needed to be completely present if they were going to make it out of this.

Garnet found the others in the control room, and they all called out her name.

"The ship is going down!"

"What about Lapis!" Steven cried.

"There's no time!" Garnet yelled, rushing over towards Pearl and Amethyst.

"NO! We can't leave her!"

 _"Steven!"_ Garnet made a grab for the back of Steven's shirt, but the boy was already too far away, rushing down the corridors. "Try to keep the ship in the air as long as possible! He won't survive a crash from this altitude!" Garnet yelled over her shoulder shoulder, taking off after Steven.

She paused, looking for which way he went, but soon ran towards the cell Steven had found with Ruby, knowing that he would be heading straight to Lapis.

As new future possibilities began to try and overwhelm her, she only hoped she could reach him in time.

Steven skidded to a halt outside of the cell, and wasted no time sticking his hand through the yellow field towards the wide-eyed gem. "La~pis come o~n!" Steven yelled. "The shi~p's cra~shing!"

Lapis hesitated for a moment that Steven knew they didn't have. He lunged forwards as much as he could through the force field, pulling Lapis forwards with a surprised gasp.

She dodged under Steven's arm, nearly falling face forwards out of the cell.

"Steven! Why won't you just leave me alone!" she said, stumbling to her feet.

"Because you're my friend!" Steven said stubbornly, "and I'm not going to let my friends die!"

Lapis felt her breath catch in her throat. She was the one who led Jasper here, who nearly got Steven killed. And Steven was the reason she was in trouble with Homeworld.

But he was also the one to set her free, to heal her gem. And he was trying to save her, even now.

Lapis didn't have time to think, let alone answer, as the fusion appeared from around the corner.

"Garnet!"

The taller gem didn't even stop, scooping up Steven under one arm and Lapis under the other, before turning right around and sprinting back the way she came "We have to get back to the others! Steven, this ship is going to crash into the beach!"

"What are we going to do?"

A furious roar echoed through the hallways, making Garnet grimace and Steven gasp. Garnet ran even faster, only loosening her hold on Steven and Lapis when she reached the control room.

"Steven!" Pear's and Amethyst's voices sounded relieved and panicked at the same time.

"It's okay! I got Lapis!" Steven smiled as Garnet set them both down, but a crashing sound from the hallway caused all the gems to turn towards the source.

A very bruised looking Jasper stood in the doorway, her eyes dancing wildly, steam practically huffing from her nostrils, and a large, sparking spear clenched in her hand. "You think this is over?" She hissed, limping forwards, causing everyone else to take a step back. "You think you can really beat me with a cheap trip? I don't need to bother taking you all back alive, I think I'll just kill you and present Yellow Diamond with your broken shards instead!"

Jasper jumped, striking Garnet hard and pushing her back into Pearl , knocking them both to the floor with the turbulence of the ship. Amethyst charged, whip cracking with deadly accuracy, but Jasper only grabbed the whip in her hand, and with a flick of her wrist, sent Amethyst crashing into the front window, shattering the glass, and leaving the room exposed to the ship's decent before she crumpled right on top of Pearl and Garnet.

The wind was starting to pull them all out, but Jasper wasn't phased, and she aimed her next strike at Lapis, directly at her gem.

 _"NO!"_ Steven yelled, leaping forwards and shoving Lapis out of the way and towards the others, a bright pink bubble appearing around the four of them. He screamed as he felt Jasper's spear sink in to his left arm.

 _"STEVEN!"_ Garnet's voice carried Ruby and Sapphire's, echoing her terror three times over, but it was muffled by Steven's bubble, keeping them all trapped together.

The bubble was rolling towards the open window, being sucked out by gravity and wind, and the Crystal Gems could do nothing as they fell away from the ship, leaving Steven on board with Jasper.

Steven felt a stab of relief as he watched them disappear, knowing that they were safe for the moment. But as he was lifted roughly by the scruff of his shirt, true fear raced through him.

Jasper held Steven close to her face, her breath hot and pungent. "You've left yourself alone, Rose!" Jasper hissed, and she spun around, storming through the still falling ship. "But it doesn't matter. They'll soon be dead anyway. I'll happily settle for just getting _you_."

Steven started to struggle, trying to ignore the stabbing pain near his shoulder as he kicked his legs in a hopeless attempt to hit Jasper, but all she had to do was extend the arm holding him to keep him under her control.

Jasper slipped into a room, still gripping Steven tightly as she began to type quickly into a glowing green power board, like the one Peridot had previously used to steer the ship. The ship turned mid fall, and Steven could see how close they were to the beach now. He screwed his eyes shut, bracing himself for impact, but with a jolt and a hissing noise, it never came.

Steven felt the momentum of the ship pushing against him and he opened his eyes to see the ground speeding away, and the green hand-shaped ship crashing into the sand on beach city, one finger missing.

"Setting course, maximum speed. It'll be a miracle if I can get this emergency ship back to port in one piece," Jasper grunted to herself, Steven still swinging in her grip as she stomped around the controls.

Steven was transfixed, his stomach sinking as he watched the ground get farther and farther away. He could no longer see the beach. The city had faded into the landscape. Steven was starting to see the curvature of the earth, and then…

So many stars.

The earth looked beautiful from this distance, brightly lit against a black void, with only the splash of stars dotting the space around it.

"Say goodbye to your precious planet, Rose," Jasper sneered, walking Steven closer to the window. "Its time for you to return Home."

Steven shivered as Jasper laughed cruelly, blood trickling down his arm, willing himself not to cry.


End file.
